Awesome Amritsar

After an amazing train ride from New Delhi, we arrived in Awesome Amritsar.

The train

The inside of the train

Beep Beep!

That was the first sound we heard when we arrived in the northern city of Amritsar, India.    The sound of tuk tuks, cars, buses and motorcycles honking their horns filled the air. The streets of Amritsar are full of life. There are vehicles, street vendors and a lot of people walking through the streets. Amritsar is a city with about 2 million people so it is very busy. Most people walk, ride bicycles, drive cars and motorcycles or hire taxis, tuk tuks or rickshaws.

The Wagah Border Ceremony

Our first stop was the Wagah Border where we watched the gate closing and flag lowering ceremony between India and Pakistan.  We had to go through many security checks and were not allowed to bring our bags into the ceremony area.  The audience sat on bleachers on both sides of the border representing the two teams.  During the ceremony, there was a lot of competition between the two countries.  The audience cheered for the side they were on by standing up and yelling.  We were sitting on the Indian side and found the ceremony very interesting.  The Indian soldiers did high kicks and shook their fists at the Pakistani soldiers.  It reminded us of a soccer or hockey game because of the great amount of cheering and excitement.  This ceremony takes place every night at this border.

The huge Indian crowd

The drummer – it was like being at a sporting event or rock concert!

Female soldiers participating in the ceremony

The two countries being aggressive with each other

Indian and Pakistani soldiers across from one another at the gate.

Preparing to march.

High kicks!

Lowering of the flag

Carrying the flag after taking id down at the end of the cerimony

The Indian gate closed at the border after the ceremony

Jallianwala Bagh Memorial

In 1919, the British were in power and passed a law that no Indians were allowed to gather to protest.  Unfortunately, not everybody heard about that law and gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh for a peaceful protest.

The British military, led by a Senior British Military Officer Edward Harry Dyer, did not like the protesting and ordered the soldiers to shoot at the people.  The firing went on for around 20 minutes and about 1650 bullets were shot.  It killed about 370 people and wounded close to 1200. A museum was made to remember the tragedy, and a memorial park with a monument in the middle called “The Flame of Liberty” was erected.  It is tall and a brown colour and looks like a square Gherkin.  Today, people use the park for flying kites, having a picnic and enjoying life.

The Jallanwala Bagh sign

Outside the memorial – we thought it was inside a building…but it is a beautiful park.

The view of the park

Shrubs shaped like soldiers

Bullet holes in the walls

The “Flame of Liberty”

The Parade

After visiting the memorial, we walked around the city for a while and when we turned a corner, there was a Sikh marching band with bagpipes and drums. We asked someone what the parade was for, and the person told us that it was the release of the new Samsung phone! It was a good way to get peoples attention!

The band

The Samsung shop

Throughout our time in Amritsar, we were pulled over four times by the same policeman who just wanted to be friendly.  Every time, he would say “How are you?” and “What’s the program?”

We had a great time in Amritsar, and if I work in advertising, I will definitely get a marching band! (I will make sure they have bagpipes too)!